


Targeted

by badly_knitted



Category: FAKE (Manga)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Crimes & Criminals, Detectives, Drama, Established Relationship, M/M, Shooting Guns, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29718717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted
Summary: Following a tip-off, Dee and Ryo find themselves in serious danger. Can Dee save his partner’s life?
Relationships: Dee Laytner/Randy "Ryo" MacLean





	Targeted

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge 180 - React, Realize, Reassure.
> 
> **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

Dee silently cursed himself as he ran flat out towards his partner. It had taken him way too long to realise what was happening and react to the danger they were in; Ryo was out in the open, providing the perfect target…

They’d come here in response to an anonymous tip, not an unusual occurrence in their line of work. Someone had phoned the precinct to report a robbery in progress, giving this location, and when the call had gone out over the radio, Dee and Ryo had only been a few blocks away so they’d responded.

Splitting up to check the buildings on both sides of the street for any signs of a break-in had seemed the right thing to do, but now Dee was regretting it; Ryo was too far away, and the tip had obviously been a hoax, a lure to bring police officers to this location.

A tiny flicker of movement in an upstairs window, a momentary glint of light on metal, was all it had taken for Dee’s cop instincts to kick in, his brain screaming ‘GUN!’ Shouting a warning to his partner wasn’t going to be enough; knowing Ryo, he’d just stop and turn around, making himself an even better target than he already was.

‘Gotta get to him before the sniper shoots!’ That was all that mattered to Dee; he didn’t care that he was potentially putting himself in the crosshairs as long as he saved his lover.

One thing Dee hadn’t anticipated was that Ryo would hear the sound of his boots pounding the asphalt and turn around. After that, everything happened so fast!

Ryo swung around, saw the expression on Dee’s face, his eyes widened as he spotted something beyond his partner, his gun came up… The two shots were practically simultaneous; Ryo dropped like a stone, disappearing behind a parked car, and Dee kept going, desperate to reach his partner and fully expecting to hear another gunshot, feel the impact of a bullet hitting him between the shoulder blades, slamming him to the ground. 

It didn’t happen and he practically vaulted over the hood of the car, not caring if he damaged the paintwork in the process. Let the owner sue his ass if he wanted to; this was a matter of life or death!

All the air went out of Dee’s lungs as he landed and ducked down out of sight of the shooter to find Ryo, alive and apparently unharmed, crouched tensely, gun steady as a rock in his hands, ready to pop up and return fire if necessary.

“You’re okay?” Dee wasn’t entirely sure he trusted his eyes. He’d been so afraid Ryo had been hit, that he’d find the man he loved dead or dying.

“I’m fine, thanks to you,” Ryo reached out to reassure his lover with a quick squeeze of his arm. “One look at your face and I knew I was in some kind of danger, then I spotted the gunman. I don’t know if I hit him though; I only had a split second to aim.”

“He only got off one shot, so unless you were the target all along and he’s waitin’ for another try at you, which seems unlikely ‘cause there’s no way he could’a known who’d respond to his tip-off, he either panicked and took off when he missed, or he’s still inside, possibly injured.”

“We should probably find out.”

Dee smiled tightly. “Yeah. You’re the better shot. Cover me, okay? I’m goin’ in.”

Ryo didn’t argue. He was in a good position if the shooter showed himself at the window again, and Dee was right; if one of them had to take a shot, he had a better chance than Dee of hitting his target. Not that Dee was a bad shot, but as a trained sniper Ryo had more experience with distance shots.

He settled himself with his gun gripped firmly in both hands, braced against the hood of the car he was hiding behind.

“Ready. Just be careful, okay?”

“Always.” Checking his revolver, Dee took a couple of deep breaths, counted silently down from three, and burst from cover, going around the trunk of the car and sprinting straight across the street, where he pressed himself up against the wall. Silence reigned, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one; if the shooter had abandoned his position and moved to a different vantage point… 

Well, no good waiting around to be picked off. Dee crept along close to the wall, gun at the ready, darting his head briefly around the corner of an alley before pulling back. It was clear, no visible movement, so he crossed the opening quickly, feeling unpleasantly exposed, and carried on, along the sidewalk, then into the building and up the stairs to the top floor. He didn’t relax until he saw the man sprawled in a pool of blood on the floor of the upstairs hallway. Ryo’s bullet had hit the guy in the neck; looked like he’d bled out. A high-powered semi-automatic pistol was still loosely gripped in his right hand.

Dee got on his radio. “Ryo? You got him, bud, he’s not gonna be causin’ us any more trouble.”

Ryo’s voice came through the radio, tinny but relieved. “Good. D’you want to call it in, or should I?”

“You do it; I’m gonna see if this bozo’s carryin’ any ID. There’s a cell phone on the window ledge, probably what he used to call the precinct; crime scene guys can look into that when they get here. Out.”

Dee replaced his radio and looked at the dead gunman, aware of just how lucky he and Ryo had been. If he hadn’t spotted that tiny movement, if the sunlight hadn’t caught the gun barrel just right, if Ryo had missed, or hadn’t reacted quite fast enough, if any one of a hundred things had happened slightly differently… He shook his head, refusing to think about what might have been. Both he and his partner were fine; their guardian angels must have been watching over them.

Soon Ryo would join him, the coroner and a crime scene team would arrive before long, and already he could hear sirens in the distance, indicating that reinforcements were on their way, probably responding to reports of gunfire. Not that they were needed. Well, maybe they could help canvas the area, see if there were any witnesses, help make sure the gunman was working alone.

“Right, you sonofabitch, let’s find out who you were.”

Maybe the shooter had family or friends out there somewhere, people who would miss him, grieve for him, but as far as Dee was concerned, the would-be cop killer had gotten exactly what he deserved.

The End


End file.
